Ethel Magafan
Birth Date: August 10, 1916
Death Date: April 24, 1993
Artist Gallery
Ethel Magafan was born August 10, 1916 in Chicago. Her father, Petros Magafan, came here from Greece with his wife in 1912. After living in Chicago for a brief time, she eventually settled her family among the mountains of Colorado. There she found contentment because, as she exclaimed, “the mountains are just like the old country”. Magafan utilizes large bold shapes to create a feeling that expresses the vitality of nature with a predominance of violet lending a cool serenity to her paintings. Ethel and her twin sister, Jenne, became widely known for their murals painted during the Depression. In the 1930s, Ethel received her first of seven Government commissions when she was commissioned to produce a painting for the US Post Office in Auburn, Nebraska.